The Devil to Pay is a mystery novel written by the pseudonymous author Ellery Queen, first published in 1938. It is the ninth novel in the long-running Ellery Queen series, which features the eponymous author-detective and his father, Inspector Richard Queen of the New York Police Department. The story revolves around the complex financial dealings and subsequent murder of a shady Hollywood financier, plunging Ellery Queen into a world of stock manipulation, greed, and deception.
The novel is notable for its intricate plot, which involves a locked-room style mystery within the context of high finance rather than a traditional domestic setting. Like many of the early Ellery Queen novels, it features a 'Challenge to the Reader' near the end, where all the clues have been presented and the reader is theoretically able to solve the crime before the solution is revealed. The book was well-received for its clever construction and remains a classic example of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.
